An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (also known as''' An American Tail 2: Fievel Goes West & '''An American Tail 2) is a 1991 American animated western film produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblimation animation studio and released by Universal Pictures. It is the sequel to An American Tail, and the last installment in the series to be released theatrically. It is the fourth installment in terms of the series' fictional chronology. It was followed at the end of the 1990s by two direct-to-video sequels, both of which took place chronologically before it. A continuation, Fievel's American Tails, aired on CBS in 1992. Don Bluth, the original film's director, had no involvement with this one. Instead, it was directed by Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells. Wells went on to do We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story, Balto and The Time Machine, while Nibbelink went on to codirect We're Back! A Dinosaur Story and direct his own independent features. The film follows the story of the Mousekewitzes, a family of Jewish-Russian mice who emigrate to the Wild West. In it, Fievel is separated from his family (again) as the train approaches the American Old West; the film chronicles him and Sheriff Wylie Burp (voiced by James Stewart in his final film) teaching Tiger how to act like a dog. It performed modestly at the box office grossing 40 million dollars and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot Several years after settling into their new home in New York City, the impoverished Mousekewitz family soon finds that conditions are not as ideal as they had hoped, as they find themselves still struggling against the attacks of mouse-hungry cats. Fievel spends his days thinking about the Wild West dog-sheriff Wylie Burp, while his older sister Tanya dreams of becoming a singer. Meanwhile, Tiger's girlfriend Miss Kitty leaves him to find a new life out west, remarking that perhaps she's looking for a cat that's more like a dog. Soon after, another gang of cats attacks and drives the mice into the sewers, including the Mousekewitzes. The raid is actually orchestrated by Cat R. Waul, who tires of chasing mice and devises a plan to deliver them into his clutches. Using a mouse-cowpoke marionette, he entices them in the sewers, including the Mousekewitzs into moving yet again to a better life out west. Tiger chases the train, trying to catch up with his friends, but is thrown off course by a pack of angry dogs. While on the train, Fievel wanders into the livestock car, where he overhears the cats revealing their plot to turn them into mouse burgers. After being discovered, he is thrown from the train by Cat R.'s hench-spider, T.R. Chula, landing him in the middle of the desert. His family is heartbroken once again over his loss and arrive in Green River, Utah with heavy hearts. Upon arrival at Green River, Chula blocks up the water tower, drying up the river. Cat R. approaches the mice and proposes to build a new saloon together, although intending to trick the mice into doing the bulk of the work and then eat them afterwards. Meanwhile, Fievel is wandering aimlessly through the desert, as is Tiger, who has found his way out west as well, and they pass each other. However, they each figure that the other is a mirage and continue on their separate ways. Tiger is captures by mouse Indians and hailed as a god. Fievel is picked up by a hawk, dropped over the mouse Indian village and reunites with Tiger. Tiger chooses to stay in while Fievel catches a passing tumbleweed, which takes him to Green River. As soon as he makes his arrival, he quickly reunites with his family. He is unable to convince the others of Cat R.'s plans to kill them. However, Cat R. happens to hear Tanya singing and is enchanted by her voice. He sends Tanya to Miss Kitty, who is now a saloon-girl cat, and she reveals that she came at the request of Cat R.. He tells Miss Kitty to put her on stage. With a little encouragement from Miss Kitty, she pulls off a performance for the cats. Meanwhile, Fievel is chased by Chula and briefly taken prisoner, but escapes. While walking out of town, Fievel stops to talk with an old hound sleeping outside the jail, discovering that the he is in fact the legendary Wylie Burp. Fievel convinces him to help and train Tiger as a lawman and as a dog. Tiger is reluctant at first, but relents at the suggestion that a new persona might win back Miss Kitty. They go back to Green River to fight the cats, who had scheduled to kill the mice at sunset. A giant mouse trap has been disguised as bleachers for a ceremony honoring the opening of Cat R.'s saloon. But before it can be tripped, they foil the plot and battle the cats using their wits and their sling shots. But towards the end Chula captures Miss Kitty as hostage, threatening to drop her from the water tower. Tiger snaps and saves her and uses a pitchfork and Chula's web as a lasso with him trapped on it to hurtle Cat R. and his men out of town by having them piled on part of the trap, which the heroes use as a catapult. The cats fly into the air and land into a mailbag. The train picks it up and leaves. Enchanted by his new personality, Miss Kitty and Tiger are reunited. Tanya becomes a famous singer and the water tower flows with 9000 gallons of water again, making Green River bloom with thousands of flowers. Fievel finds Wylie away from the party who hands him his sheriff badge. He is unsure about taking it, since he feels he is not a traditional hero. However, Wylie reminds him that if they didn't meet, he would still be a washed up dog. Realizing that his journey is still not over, Fievel is told, if you ride yonder, head up, eyes steady, heart open, I think one day you'll find that you're the hero you've been looking for. Cast * Phillip Glasser as Fievel Mousekewitz * James Stewart as Wylie Burp * Dom DeLuise as Tiger * Cathy Cavadini as Tanya Mousekewitz * John Cleese as Cat R. Waul * Amy Irving as Miss Kitty * Jon Lovitz as T.R. Chula * Nehemiah Persoff as Papa Mousekewitz * Erica Yohn as Mama Mousekewitz * Additional voices: Jack Angel - Frenchy, Fausto Bara, Vanna Bonta, Philip L. Clarke - Male Mice, Jennifer Darling - Female Mice #2, Annie Holliday, Sherry Lynn - Female Mice #1, Lev Mailer, Mickie McGowan - New York Mice, Country Mice, Larry Moss, Nigel Pegram, Patrick Pinney - One Eye, Lisa Raggio, Lawrence Steffan, David Tate & Robert Watts Songs * Somewhere Out There (performed by Cathy Cavadini) * Way Out West * Rawhide (performed by The Blues Brothers) * Dreams to Dream (performed by Cathy Cavadini) * I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen * The Girl You Left Behind (performed by Cathy Cavadini) * An American Tail Overture * Dreams to Dream Finale (performed by Linda Ronstadt) International releases * United States: November 22, 1991 * Norway: December 5, 1991 * Finland: December 6, 1991 * Sweden: December 6, 1991 * France: December 11, 1991 * United Kingdom: December 13, 1991 * Netherlands: December 13, 1991 * Portugal: December 13, 1991 * Australia: December 19, 1991 * Denmark: December 20, 1991 * Ireland: December 20, 1991 * Italy: December 20, 1991 * El Salvador: January 24, 1991 * Brazil: February 21, 1992 * Germany: June 25, 1992 * Spain: July 1, 1992 * Japan: July 18, 1992 * Hungary: November 6, 1992 International titles * Brazil: Um Conto Americano: Fievel Vai para o Oeste * Canada & France: Fievel au Far West * Chile & Mexico: Un cuento Americano Faivel va al oeste * Denmark: Rejsen til Amerika II: Fievel i det vilde * Finland: Fievel matkalla villiin länteen * Germany: Feivel, der Auswanderer im wilden Westen * Greece: American story - O Fievel stin agria dysi * Hungary: Egérmese 2: Egérkék a Vadnyugaton * Italy: Fievel conquista il West * Japan: アメリカ物語2/ファイベル西へ行く (Amerika Monogatari 2/Faiberu nishi he iku) (American Story 2/Fievel Goes to the West) * Lithuania: Amerikos peliukai. Faivelas traukia i Vakarus * Netherlands: Een avontuur met een staartje: Fievel in het wilde westen * Norway: Et amerikansk eventyr - Fivel i det Ville Vesten * Poland: Amerykanska opowiesc: Fievel rusza na Zachód * Portugal: Um Conto Americano 2 - Fievel no Faroeste * Russia: Американская история: Фивел едет на Запад * Serbia: Američka Priča 2 * Spain: Fievel va al Oeste * Sweden: Resan till Amerika - Fievel i vilda västern * Turkey: Sevimli Fare 2: Batiya Yolculuk Sequels and spin-offs The sequel followed An American Tail and was followed by the television series Fievel's American Tails and two direct-to-video sequels: An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island and An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster. International releases For information about international dubs and releases, An American Tail: Fievel Goes West/International.Category:1991 films Category:1990s American animated films Category:American musical films Category:American sequel films Category:Films produced by Steven Spielberg Category:Films produced by Robert Watts Category:Films directed by Phil Nibbelink Category:Films directed by Simon Wells Category:Film scores by James Horner Category:Amblin Entertainment films Category:Universal Pictures films Category:Universal Pictures animated films Category:Half-Disney Feature Animation Category:Non-Disney animated films